Mayor Mike Rawlings speaks to the crowd at a conference urging pre-registration for his Back to School Fair event on August 1. He spoke to the students, staff and the press at the John F. Kennedy Learning Center in Dallas on Tuesday, July 8 2014.

Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings, in his first public comment on the indictment of Dallas County Commissioner John Wiley Price, said Friday that he’s focused on making “sure the city pulls together through all the ups and downs we have.”

Price, his political consultant Kathy Nealy and two others were arrested by the FBI last week on federal public corruption charges. All four pleaded not guilty, and Price, a towering figure in local politics, hasn’t hesitated in getting back to work.

The arrest of Nealy – a prominent southern Dallas power broker – casts somewhat of a shadow on Rawlings’ 2011 mayoral campaign.

Asked Friday if he was second guessing the decision to hire Nealy for his campaign, Rawlings said, “I just don’t even do that.”

“I look back on my life, and there are a lot of tactical mistakes that I have made,” said Rawlings, who on Friday hosted the city’s annual “Mayor’s Back to School Fair.”

Rawlings is far from the only politician to have used Nealy’s services.

For years, business-backed mayoral candidates from northern Dallas have leaned on consultants like Nealy to garner votes south of the Trinity River. That often means lining up support from prominent ministers and powerful politicians.

Price, for instance, was a major endorser of Rawlings’ bid, even recording an automated phone call on the candidate’s behalf.

Others, such as County Judge Clay Jenkins and County Commissioner Elba Garcia, also hired Nealy in recent years. That’s even though Nealy was a federal witness in the corruption case against former Mayor Pro Tem Don Hill.

But Rawlings’ campaign was noteworthy in the large sums that it paid Nealy for her work.

The Rawlings campaign was a fundraising powerhouse, collecting nearly $2.5 million. And most of those funds went to Allyn Media, the well-known public relations and consulting company that ran Rawlings campaign.

Nealy was the second-highest-paid operation, even as the campaign also employed consultant Willis Johnson in its southern strategy. The campaign said Nealy was hired as a “grass-roots consultant,” with duties such as message development and block walking.

Rawlings’ robust efforts in southern Dallas paid off, as he carried much of that sector. The campaign manager for Rawlings’ rival David Kunkle told The Dallas Morning News in 2012 that it was “very difficult” to make headway in that part of town.

“You have the main political machine working against you actively and aggressively attacking your supporters,” said Kunkle’s campaign manager, C.P. Henry.

Those sorts of considerations won’t likely factor into next year’s mayoral campaign, if Rawlings chooses to run for re-election. Given his popularity – and relatively smooth tenure as mayor – he would likely cruise to victory without much opposition.

And Rawlings said on Friday that regardless of the recent news surrounding Price, Nealy and others, the city is moving forward.

“We’re getting stronger every day,” he said. “Hopefully whatever happens, we’ll power through it in a positive way. I see these things as opportunities for the city.”

Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins says he’s watching the race for Dallas mayor with great interest.

But the newly-sworn county judge says he won’t endorse a mayoral contender.

“Right now I’m focused on working with Mayor Caraway,” Jenkins said Wednesday after dropping in on the Texas Legislature. “Whoever wins in May, or in the runoff in June, I look forward to working with them.”

Jenkins, a Democrat, is a student of politics, so he’ll be watching the race just like any other political junkie.

Council member Ron Natinsky, former Police Chief David Kunkle and former Park Board Chairman Mike Rawlings are the leading contenders to follow Tom Leppert.

Leppert resigned as Dallas mayor to focus on running for U.S. Senate. Dwaine Caraway is serving the rest of Leppert’s term.

But Rawlings, the former Park Board chairman, said he would not consider cuts to public safety and economic development.

“We’ve made a huge progress in crime, so I would not want to be cutting those budgets,” Rawlings told an audience at the Highland Springs retirement village. “There’s also economic development. We have not invested over the last four a five years during the economic downturn. Right now there are businesses trying to give us money.”

In endorsing David Kunkle for Dallas mayor this morning, former Dallas Mexican American Bar Association president Marcos Ronquillo said race relations in the city have taken a step backward.

“Within the last tenure, we’ve had a racial vote split down the middle, with whites on one side and minorities on the other side,” Ronquillo said.

Ronquillo, attorney for Love Field concessionaire Hudson Retail, was likely referring to the Love Field contract debate.The issue came under scrutiny when the City Council considered awarding Hudson Retail and longtime Love Field concessionaire Gilbert Aranza no-bid contracts for more than half the concessions space at a renovated Love Field for a term of at least 12 years.

The no-bid contracts were further complicated by their political connections. Hudson is owned in part by state Rep. Helen Giddings, D-Dallas, and a blind trust that controls the assets of U.S. Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson, D-Dallas.

Asked how he saw the matter, Kunkle said he didn’t know the issue well enough to know how he would have voted. But he said Leppert mishandled the matter.

“I didn’t agree with the way Mayor Leppert conducted his campaign,” Kunkle said. “I believe that the mayor should have debated that issue with his colleagues in the council chambers, not taking it out to the public – not, in my opinion, demonizing people on the council who disagreed with him.

“I’m not familiar enough with how the contract should be broken up, whether it can be bid that way to get qualified vendors and open up the process,” Kunkle said.

A group of Hispanic leaders endorsed David Kunkle’s bid to become Dallas’ next mayor Tuesday during a news conference in the Little Mexico neighborhood’s Pike Park.

“The Hispanic community feels that we can trust David Kunkle, we feel that he will do the right thing by our community,” said longtime Dallas civil rights attorney Adelfa Callejo.

She said that Kunkle always proved honest and accessible as police chief.

“Sometimes we wouldn’t get the answers that we really wanted to hear, but he was always honest with us and we really appreciated that,” she said.

Kunkle said he embraces Dallas’ Hispanic population, which makes up more than 40 percent of the city and is rapidly growing.

“I believe their presence will drive the city economically to greater heights, that they will work hard, be entrepreneur, great businesses, become executives in large corporations, raise great kids, reinvigorate our schools and make this city a great city,” he said. “I embrace that change because it’s going to be better for all of us who live in the city of Dallas.”

Former Dallas Mayor Laura Miller is hosting a fundraiser and cocktail reception next month for mayoral candidate and former Dallas Police Chief David Kunkle.

The event is scheduled for April 14 at the home of Miller and her husband, former state Rep. Steve Wolens, D-Dallas. Wolens is Kunkle’s campaign treasurer.

The Kunkle campaign has sought to minimize Miller’s support. She’s not listed as a supporter on Kunkle’s campaign website.

But Miller has been raising money and securing support for Kunkle behind the scenes.

What’s more, Kunkle’s campaign message is strikingly similar to Miller’s 2002 pitch to voters. In route to replacing Ron Kirk as mayor, she campaign against big-ticket projects and urged the city to focus on the delivery of basic services.

Though she won easy victories for mayor in 2002 and 2003, Miller was unpopular with southern Dallas voters. One of the biggest southern Dallas electoral turnouts in history was to defeat a strong-mayor referendum pushed by Miller.

According to an invitation to the April event, donors are asked to give the Kunkle campaign $5,000 for at “Chief Level.” If you don’t have $5,000, you can get in at the rookie level for $250.

Kunkle is running in the May 14th mayoral contest against council member Ron Natinsky, former Park Board President Mike Rawlings and businessman Edward Okpa.

David Kunkle said Tuesday that he does not considered himself a Democrat or Republican.

The former Dallas Police Chief called me last night after I suggested in a column that he probably didn’t have a good time Saturday at the Dallas County Republican Party’s Reagan Day Dinner.

Kunkle says he’s voted in Democratic and Republican primaries. He says his votes in Democratic primaries or for Democratic candidates does not make him a Democrat. He added that_ over the years_ he’s probably voted for more Republicans than Democrats.

For this election, you are what you say you are. So I’ll consider Kunkle independent of the Democratic and Republican parties.

Dallas mayoral races are non-partisan.

But some candidates could try to appeal to Republican voters in the north and Democratic voters in the south.

Mayoral candidate Ron Natinsky is a Republican who has adopted some conservative, GOP themes for his mayoral campaign.

Former Park Board Mike Rawlings is a Democrat, but has been strictly non-partisan in his effort to become mayor.

If you’re wondering about the political affiliations of the last three mayors. Tom Leppert is a Republican, while Laura Miller and Ron Kirk are Democrats.

Eleven current and former council members endorsed Natinsky’s campaign for mayor, saying his business savvy and record of helping neighborhoods made him the ideal choice to lead the city.

“The mayor of Dallas has to have a good business sense and a good neighborhood sense,” said council member Delia Jasso, who currently represents District 1.Others agreed.

“You’ve got to have a mix of both,” former council member Ed Oakley said during a news conference at City Hall Plaza. “Ron is going to prove to you that the D is Dallas stands for diversity.”

Natinsky was endorsed by Mayor Dwaine Caraway and council members Jerry Allen, Sheffie Kadane, Linda Koop, Dave Neumann and Jasso. Former council members endorsing Natinsky included Oakley, Gary Griffith, Lois Finkelman, Craig Holcomb, Chris Luna and Mary Poss, who also served the city as mayor.

Caraway (Shown to the right accepting a Natinsky campaign sticker) said Natinsky was 100 percent in favor of his agenda for southern Dallas.

“He did not turn his back on me then,” Caraway said. “Nor will I turn my back on him.”

Natinsky is running for mayor in the May general election against former Dallas Police Chief David Kunkle and former Park Board Chairman Mike Rawlings.

The last time so many council members endorsed a colleague was in 2002 for Tom Dunning and 2003 for Poss. Both candidates were beaten by former Dallas Mayor Laura Miller.